The sixth-ranked player in the world from Kazakhstan, Elena Rybakina, defeated the second-ranked player in the world, Polish Iga Swiatek, in the second match at the WTA Finals in Riyadh — 3:6, 6:1, 6:0.
Rybakina became the fifth tennis player to achieve victory over Swiatek, winning one of the sets 'to love'.
Previously this was done by:
Camila Giorgi (Italy) — Australian Open 2019;
Simona Halep (Romania) — Roland Garros 2019;
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) — Roland Garros 2025;
Emma Navarro (USA) — Beijing 2025.
In addition, Rybakina became the second player to achieve 40 wins on hard courts at the WTA level in 2025. The first was Swiatek.
Also, the 2022 Wimbledon champion from Kazakhstan has tied with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina for the number of victories over players from the top 2 of the rankings. This is reported by Opta Ace. Now Rybakina also has 11 wins over top 2 players. This is the second highest among all active WTA tour players. The leader is American Venus Williams, who has defeated top 2 ranked players 29 times.
